Can You Increase Your Odds in Online Bingo?

Bingo is pretty much all chance. For any gambling game to have strategy, you have to be able to make decisions after your bets have been placed. For example, blackjack and poker both allow you to make a multitude of decisions after the bets have been placed. It is these decisions that make it possible to implement any sort of winning strategy.

So the short answer is no, there’s really nothing you can do to gain an edge in bingo. However, there are a few things you can do to increase your odds of winning. I know, that sounds completely self-contradictory. Let me explain.

In bingo, you can increase your odds of winning by simply buying more cards in games that allow you to buy multiple cards. This does increase the likelihood of hitting a winning payout, but it doesn’t do anything to increase your expected value (EV).

For example, let’s say you want to play in a bingo game with $1.00 cards. The maximum payout is $500. If you buy one card and win the jackpot, you’ve just gotten a 500-1 payout. If you buy two cards, your odds of winning have just doubled! The catch is that you have paid $2 to play in this game. The payout is still $500, but you’re only getting 250-1 on your money.

250-1 still sounds great but over the long run, there’s no difference in expected value in these two situations. You win twice as often, but you also pay twice as much to play. If you played through both situations for a million years, your net profits would look exactly the same.

Buying multiple cards increases your odds of winning, but it doesn’t give you any kind of edge. You’re paying more to play, which means your EV remains the same. You could even buy 10 cards in that game and give yourself a 10-times better chance of winning, but you’re still getting the same EV.
A Few Bingo Tips

Something else you can do is turn on the auto-dauber feature. This doesn’t change the odds of the game in any way, but it does reduce the chances of you missing a winning call. If you find yourself playing 10 cards at once, the auto-daub feature is a must-have. You don’t want to miss anything important.

One other thing you can do is play every chat game every time you play. You see, most bingo sites host chat games down in the chat area. The chat moderator might ask trivia questions and give prizes to the first person to respond with the correct answer. This does increase your EV a little, but it doesn’t affect the actual bingo game.

And finally, don’t waste too much time when it comes to picking your cards. Bingo balls are drawn at random and therefore there’s no point in stressing out over picking the perfect cards. If you read around, some bingo strategy websites tell you to pick cards that cover a whole range of numbers. Other websites tell you to pick cards that share numbers.

Both strategies are equally likely (and unlikely) to win money for you. The idea behind picking cards that don’t share numbers is to get as many hits as possible. This may sound good in theory, but the problem is that you still have to get a full line to get a payout. Picking cards that don’t share numbers doesn’t make it any more likely that you’ll complete a line before anyone else.

The idea behind picking cards that share numbers is to maximize the number of spaces you get to fill in when the right calls are made. For example, you might have 5 cards that all go with high numbers. Whenever a high number is called, you get to daub multiple spaces across your cards.

This strategy also does nothing more than picking cards at random. The extra hits that you get from bunching up your numbers are mitigated by all the misses caused by not spreading your numbers. Long story short: the person who spends 2 hours picking the perfect bingo cards is just as likely to win as the person who picks cards at random.

The Popularity Of Online Gambling – Top 12 Reasons Why Betting On The Internet Is So Popular

Internet gambling offers almost all of the appealing elements of traditional casinos, and additionally:

1. Gamblers can play in the comfort of their own homes – no need to go to a casino.

2. New players can learn how to play with step-by-step tutorials without feeling embarrassed that they do not know the rules (as compared to traditional casinos).

3. Online gambling websites offer exciting, modern interfaces that may be especially appealing to younger players and / or those who enjoy video games.

4. New players can initially bet with “play money” which eases the transition to making wagers with real money.

5. Online gambling (especially online poker) tournaments have produced champions who go on to televised poker tournaments – thus becoming idols for those who wish to do the same.

6. Online gambling websites often use celebrities for promotion and at times they even take part in the tournaments, which further adds to the glamour and excitement.

7. The online format of internet gambling allows for games that are simply not possible in traditional casinos.

8. Internet gambling provides an opportunity (albeit a very small opportunity) to win money from home.

9. Online gambling websites make huge profits and have large budgets for advertising.

10. Online casinos often have loyalty programs to encourage more frequent and higher bets.

11. Online gambling is typically faster paced than the games offered in a casino.

12. Younger players who would be turned away at a casino can lie about their ages and easily access online gambling websites.

What Reasons Do People Give For Gambling Online?

According to a study by the American Gaming Association (2006):

Convenience (48%)

Fun / excitement / entertainment (24%)

More comfortable (24%)

Able to win money (9%)

Anonymity & privacy (6%)

Explanations for the popularity of online gambling according to Wood et al. (2007)

Convenience, comfort and ease of internet gambling

An aversion to traditional land-based casinos

Prefer the pace and format of online gambling

Perceived potential for larger wins and lower costs to play

Young People and Gambling Report 2018

Today the Gambling Commission published its Young People and Gambling Report which reveals that over the last year there has been an increase in the percentage of 11-16 year olds who gamble and an increase in the percentage who are classified as problem gamblers. Here, Commission Executive Director Tim Miller sets out how protecting children from harm will remain a top priority for the Commission and how it will strengthen protections for children whilst working with others to make gambling safer.

The report we have published today shows that 14% of 11-16 year olds in Britain gambled in the previous week and 1.7% are problem gamblers. There’s no doubt that these are figures that should make people sit up and pay attention and recognise that there is no form of gambling that is risk free. And we know that young people’s early experiences of gambling can shape their future relationships with it. But whilst discussions about children and gambling might conjure up images of groups of kids being allowed to sneak into the local bookies or sitting alone on their iPads gambling on an online casino, our latest research paints a more complex, and perhaps challenging, picture.

The most common activities that children gamble on are not those that occur exclusively within licensed gambling premises. Casinos, online gambling, bingo and bookies do not feature in the most prevalent forms of gambling in this age group. Instead we found children preferred to gamble in informal environments, out of sight of regulation – private bets between friends or playing cards with their mates for money. We also found them gambling in places where parents were or might be expected to be present – scratchcards from the supermarket or playing fruit machines in pubs.

Just in the last week we found that nearly 90% of the pubs across England that were tested failed to prevent children from gambling on their fruit machines. These are businesses that are not gambling companies but nevertheless have a duty to protect young people from being harmed. Of course, none of this will divert us from our core duty to protect children from those forms of gambling offered by the companies we regulate. We continue to take action when children are not properly protected by gambling companies and keep raising the standards of protections in place.

Earlier this year we set out our proposals to strengthen age verification for online gambling sites, including putting free to play games behind an age check wall. And in October we introduced new rules which mean we can directly take action, including imposing fines, against gambling businesses that break advertising rules (such as advertising that appeals to children or glamourises gambling). But our actions alone won’t stop children being exposed to the risks gambling can pose. Protecting children from harm requires a joined-up approach: a strong, effective regulator; parents and teachers who understand and talk about the risks that can come from gambling; businesses, both in the gambling industry and outside, that act responsibly. It is by working hand in hand that we can help to keep our kids safe.